And pledges to make 'later life greater life' with help from its new advisory board

A survey by McCarthy & Stone, the UK market leader in assisted living development, has found that the risk of becoming a burden to their children is the over-60s' greatest concern in relation to getting older and less independent.

The research, which was conducted by McCarthy & Stone as part of its commitment to challenging perceptions about ageing and transforming later life, found 60 per cent of respondents were worried about becoming a burden to their children.

This set the issue ahead of any of the other financial or practical considerations about coping in later life that were put to 1,000 people aged over-60, who took part in the survey.

Concerns that came further down the list included the ability to pay nursing home fees long-term (41 per cent) and not having any plans in place for future care and housing needs (23 per cent).

Fifteen per cent of respondents worried about how they would manage financially in their current home and 11 per cent did not know what options might be available.

To help tackle the fear and apathy that commonly exists around housing and care in later life, McCarthy & Stone has appointed a new non-executive advisory board to help inform new product development as well as supplement the company's current lobbying activity in a bid to bring about positive, lasting change.

Known as the Greater Life Advisory Board, the initiative comprises six professionals, aged over 50, who have first-hand experience of making later life decisions. They are tasked with helping to re-imagine and re-engineer products, services and perceptions around ageing in a way that will help more people experience a greater life in later life.

The new board members include former Government Health Minister - Edwina Currie who became a Member of Parliament in 1983, where she spent 14 years and served as Minister under Margaret Thatcher in the Department of Health, responsible for public health and women's health issues.

The board will be chaired by Steven Bedford, who has over 20 years' general management experience at board level in retail and customer driven businesses.

In 2007 he led a management buy-in to The Marvellous Group, a specialist maternity and children's business. Previously, he was chair and co-owner of Build-a-Bear Workshop UK, Eire and France, having co-founded the venture in 2003.

Ali Crossley, Executive Director of McCarthy & Stone, said: "Our research shows that although many older people worry about how they will cope in later life and do not want to become a burden to their children; a concerning proportion of them do nothing about it.

"Our new advisory board will help us tackle the negativity and inertia that commonly surrounds planning for later life. We will do this by creating new products and services to meet the needs of the UK's ageing population, which will see one third of all its households occupied by people aged over 65 within the next 20 years.

"We will also lobby the Government to make changes that will help us to fulfil our ambition to see older people live richer, more rewarding and fulfilling lives."

McCarthy & Stone is Britain's leading builder of retirement apartments, responsible for the construction of more than 40,000 homes for more than 45,000 residents. The company is renowned for its focus on the needs of people in later life